Betting on Android

There’s a lot of talk at Mobile Internet World 2008, in Boston, about how great applications for mobile devices die all the time because it’s so hard to get through all the negotiation that stands in the way of real people using the software. A startup often has to work deals with carriers, device manufacturers, and the company that controls a device’s operating system before having any hope that people might one day be able to buy or use any software that the company intends to build.

But while insider woes may not matter to the average person, the goals described by Rich Miner, group manager of mobile platforms for Google and one of the visionaries behind the company’s open Android platform, could vastly change how large numbers of people access the Internet–if Android succeeds. Google is supporting Android for a long-term reason, Miner said. The company’s products are all Web services, and, after having successfully won the hearts and minds of many people using laptops and desktops, one way the company hopes to grow is by convincing more users to access its services through mobile phones. That requires making it possible for them to do so.

Miner described Google’s frustrations building a Maps application for mobile phones. Miner said that after having established itself by building on open-source software in most cases–using the Linux operating system, for example–the company was shocked at the closed, serpentine processes typical of building mobile applications. The company wants to change what is now often an expensive, 18-month process into a matter of days and a $25 application fee. The company has successfully pushed industry giants to talk the same talk. Yesterday at the conference, Verizon Wireless director of open development Anthony Lewis spoke about his company’s efforts to reduce the application approval process to only four weeks.